1010thth Annual Education Summit Annual Education Summit
) )
A Decade Rooted in Raising Achievement and Closing the Gap!!!
The Journey Continues…
September 13, 2008
Dr. Forrest D. Toms, Sr., Associate Professor
Leadership Studies Program
NC A&T State University
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• HOW THE JOURNEY STARTED
AND
WHERE WE HAVE BEEN
Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005
Community Change ProcessCommunity Change Process“Tracks”“Tracks”
NAACP Issues
RetreatPriorities
> Education
June ‘97
Focus
“The Call”
Leadership Academy
June ‘98
Education Summit
June 99
Quantitative Data
Education Achievement
“Close the Gap”
Core Group“Movers and Shakers” > Educators > Parent > Faith community > Business > Elected OfficialsTransitioned
T.V. Interviews
Campaign speeches
Quantitative Process (Data)
Meeting of the Minds with Leadership
To Concerned
Citizens
Groups
Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005
Community Change ProcessCommunity Change Process“The Junction”“The Junction”
Educated Core Group &
Community
QuantitativeProcess
Group Core
Closing the Gap Forums
Black Male & Female Forums
Interviews
March - April 2000
Public Awareness
Community Process
Superintendents Engaged
Commissioner Engaged > Data Presentation
> Leveraged Political Environment
Meeting of the minds >Commissioner Representatives
> School Boards & Superintendents
Closing the Gap Planning Committee
Within Community Between Communities
Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005
Community Change ProcessCommunity Change Process
Close the Gap Planning Committee
“Additional Engines”
(CIS Universities, Public Schools, Parents, Business, NAACP…
Summit 2000
Published Report
Actions Plans
Created Activities
Planned Feedback Process
Developed Goals
Gathering of the Village
- Partnerships
- Advocacy
- Commitment Process
Memorandum of Understanding
- Feedback via Written Reports & Presentations
- Movement Validated
- Benchmarks
December 2000
Gap Group
Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005
Closing The Gap: Then & Now
COREGROUP
Closing The
Committee
Set and achieved 2005goal
s
.
Educational Summits
Memorandum of Understanding
•AA M/F Forums•Mentoring
•Afterschool•Youth Summit
•A Gathering of the Village•DistinguishedImage Awards•Leadership Academies
Closing The Gap Initiative
Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005
Closing The Gap: TomorrowOrganizational
FunctioningAlignment of Alignment of Human and Human and
Social CapitalSocial Capital
LeveragingCommitment & Resources
•Work /Study Teams•Shared Responsibility of Work Loads
.
Tactical Use of Talent•Core Group Members•Leadership Graduates•Community Organizations•Move Leadership from one stage to another
•Development of Financial Vehicles•Effective Utilization of Resources•Connect programs to resources
Capacity to generate andimplement newInitiatives based on data & experiences
) )
Where Are We Going?
What Will It Take (What Must We Do Different) To Get There?
What Will It Require of You?
RACG COMMISSION, 2008RACG COMMISSION, 2008
• A rising tide will lift all boats but their physical relationship to each other will not change without some additional intervention.
• We must create new traditions in this case and go beyond the routine . . . and in some cases, beyond our comforts if we are to succeed in this endeavor.
LeadershipLeadership
• "Leadership is the energetic process of getting people fully and willingly committed to a new and sustainable course of action, to meet commonly agreed objectives whilst having commonly held values"
•
Leadership and ReflectionLeadership and Reflection
•Reflection is the process of stepping back from an experience to ponder, carefully and persistently, its meaning to the self through the development of inferences;
• Learning is the creation of that meaning from the past or current event(s) that are used to guide our future behavior
LeadershipLeadership and and ReflectionReflection
•Reflection is a form or mental processing that we use to fulfill a purpose or to achieve a anticipated outcomes applied to relatively complicated or unstructured ideas for which there are no obvious solutions
RACG COMMISSION, 2008RACG COMMISSION, 2008
) )
Acknowledging the problem and doing something about it are two different things.
What assumptions do we start with about What assumptions do we start with about why certain conditions exist, and why?why certain conditions exist, and why?
Worsley, J. D. & Zhu, T. (2008) Worsley, J. D. & Zhu, T. (2008)
• “You can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results”
• What does the data suggest about secondary indicators of closing the gap?– AIG– Dropout– Low numbers of minority teachers/personnel
What assumptions do we start with about What assumptions do we start with about why certain conditions exist, and why?why certain conditions exist, and why?
• “We have to dig deeper and wider to get better at addressing historical underperforming and underrepresented area”
• Is the leadership recognizable and consistent around closing the gap at the:
• Board level• School administration• School–level• Community LevelIf not, what other voices need to heard to have a greater impact
Is there a planned program involving the overall community stakeholders.
Is the Board of Education Policies, Practices and Leadership aligned with Closing the Gap efforts?
Is the Closing the Gap’s Committees’ goals and practices aligned with the data, information and evidence ?
Are individual school based plans and practices aligned with system-wide goals; with the school board and with the Closing the Gap Committee’s findings?
) )
Alignment of Resources and Alignment of Resources and EffortEffort
RACG COMMISSION, 2008RACG COMMISSION, 2008
) )
While coming to grips with our failures in this area and
searching for an acceptable approach to dealing with the
challenge, it is helpful to recognize that the issue is not
really so much about the gaps that exist as it is about the undeveloped academic potential of thousands of young people who are present for instruction in classrooms across the state.
And disproportionately, they are minorities. We can no longer afford to avoid the discomfort often associated with recognizing that ethnic culture (race) is somehow associated with this failure.
) )
What will we have to do differently to create the change we want?
•Planning Committee
•School Board
•System-wide & School-based Leadership
•Community StakeholdersCommunity Organizations
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